Kelowna

School District 23 Central Okanagan is welcoming news that the provincial government is going to fund specialized training for 100 teachers.

Education Minister Rob Fleming announced the extra funding of $571,000 Friday in response to a task force appointed to identify challenges facing school districts across the province. "We were involved in providing feedback to the task force and are pleased that action is being taken to try address the shortages," said Kevin Kaardel School District 23 Superintendant. "We hired 210 new teachers last year but still have a few specialist positions to fill."

The task force report determined that 54 school districts were having trouble finding and retaining learning assistance teachers, teacher librarians, counsellors and science, math and French teachers. "We recruit within the province and across Canada and also have teachers from within the region that want to come to a larger urban centre for career and lifestyle reasons," added Kaardel.

The B-C Teachers’ Federation says a provincial government plan to tackle teacher shortages are a start but much more action is needed. says "The shortages have become so dire, one school district in the North Okanagan is hiring non-certified teachers," said Federation president Glen Hansman.